Safety Challenges in the Built Environment in The Netherlands: A Macro, Meso and Micro Approach

This paper provides an overview of the impact that societal and demographic developments have on the built environment from various safety perspectives. Safety is important in the built environment. Wherever construction is planned, underway, or completed, safety risks arise for users, residents, traffic participants, construction site personnel, and passersby. This is the case, for example, with buildings along transport routes carrying hazardous materials, or activities in, around, or within a structure during its lifecycle, such as rough or finishing work, maintenance of installations, façade cleaning, or demolition. People inevitably use the built environment -consisting of assets and their vicinity- which. Applied, scientifically grounded clear frameworks, decision-making processes, role distribution, and responsibilities among the involved organizations are essential -or rather, should be essentialto ensure safety. This necessity becomes even more pressing with societal and demographic developments on the horizon. Without a scientifically grounded and well-thought-out strategy and clear frameworks for integral safety, these societal and demographic developments will affect the safety of the built environment and vice versa. This paper provides insights into these issues.

Keywords: Integral safety, Education, Construction process.